Lyon

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PHOTOS AND FRENCH VERSION TO FOLLOW SOON...

Lyon, situated on two rivers (the Saune and the Rhone/Rhine), with a charming old quarter recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, site of the Basilica with its amazing murals, home to the famous Jacquard silk, and also the residence of STEF, my friend Stef from Belgium (as she is constantly reminded by all the Frogs who are hopelessly provincial and mock her charming accent and her relentlessly cool Belgian slang). I visited Stef for about four days, first stopping at a party in the Alps, like you do, thrown by her friends. I met a Frenchman there who likes feminists - yes, a Frenchy who not only isn't sleazy but actually likes femos! It's crazy. Actually, pretty much everyone at the party was lovely, very friendly (don't go thinking it's Parisians who've got the monopoly on friendliness in France). They played ça Plane Pour Moi by Plastic Bertrand - so cool.

So after a night in the Alps we went to Lyon, where I wandered through the above-mentioned old quarter, was amazed by the Basilica, and prepared myself for Rome by hanging out in a Roman amphitheatre (Lyon was the capital of Gaul and has significant archeological sites from its Gallo-Roman past). I was pretty easy on myself in terms of being a tourist because I walked myself to the bone in Paris. And the main point was to hang out with Stef. As with Louise, there's this beautiful complicity with Stef, and again some points of similarity which are startling. All three of us are working in social service/justice areas and both of them can read my mind at times. It is wonderful to have great friends throughout the world, but it's sad to not have them part of my daily life. They should all come to Australia!

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